Harry Potter and the New Beginnings
by Harmione4ever
Summary: I know its been done a million times but this is the feel good story of Harry Potter  Little changes to the Universe will have multiple effects on how his life turns out  Explained more in first chapter, relationships to be decided
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, its me again, on another new story and I know I'm making no headway with my other ones (I've got chapters but no full ones), I haven't given up on any of them, don't worry otherwise they would be deleted I just wanted to give this a go. Also I've got a new computer, which I love so that will help me to write as well.

Basically ill write whenever I'm inspired to do so and so leave a review, story alert etc. because then you'll be able to see new chapters and it helps to inspire me, when a story is popular so yeah.

Any way this is basically a re-telling of Harry's life with a few major differences. Firstly the Dursleys like Harry, my explanation is Lily left a letter to Petunia and Vernon, which made them change their mind about wizards, I know its weak but that's not really part of the story. Secondly Sirius isn't in Azkaban, when he caught Peter he captured him and sent him off to Azkaban. As such Sirius is a teacher at Hogwarts (Defence against the Dark Arts) and there is no spell created by Voldemort against DADA teachers.

Anyway here we go.

"Harry, Dudley wake up" Petunia called up the stairs from the kitchen, at nine o'clock on the 23rd June of 1991.  
>"Come on boys get up. It's a very special day today".<p>

Harry groaned and turned over in his bed, trying to ignore his aunt's shouts. Before he had even finished turning over though his bedroom door slammed opened.

"It's my birthday! Woo hoo" Dudley shouted, he then turned and ran downstairs.

Harry rolled his eyes, he liked Dudley but he was undeniable spoilt. Dudley had always been granted pretty much anything he wanted by his parents and unfortunately for Dudley, his favourite thing in the world was food, something that had resulted in him taking after his Dad to a great extent. Harry on the other hand was much healthier and no way near as large as Dudley. Harry rolled out of bed and trundled downstairs.  
>"Happy birthday Dud," Harry mumbled, heading over to the fridge to grab some bacon and started making breakfast.<p>

"What dya want" he called over to the rest of his family. Vernon Dursley, who was reading the paper in his chair, simply grunted which Harry took to mean whatever there was while Petunia, who was peering over the neighbour's fence, said she'd already had some cereal. Dudley ignored Harry as he stared hungrily at the large pile of presents in the corner of the room.

"Can I open them now Mum?" he asked Petunia.

"Of course you can Dudders" she replied straightaway, "we got you everything you asked for".

"Wicked" and with that, he dove headfirst into the presents, ripping off the wrapping paper hungrily.

Harry chuckled, it was the only day of the year where Dudley could possibly forget about breakfast. Harry flipped over the bacon and eggs in his pan. A couple of years ago, he had discover that he enjoyed cooking very much and was unusually good at it and so often he would do it for the family, something that Petunia and Vernon had no complaints about. Soon it was done and Harry separated the food onto three plates and set the food on the table in front of his uncle.

"Thanks Harry" Vernon said in his gruff voice. Dudley soon joined them at the table having smelled the food and finished opening everything, a very satisfied smile on his face.

Petunia then announced that they were going to the zoo for the day as a special birthday treat for the darling Dudders and soon they were all packed into the hatchback for a trip to the zoo. As soon as they had arrived and paid to get in, there was immediately a disagreement between what to do, Dudley wanted to go and see the Lions and Tigers while Harry wanted to go see the snakes and Lizards. Dudley had always been the Dursleys favourite of the two children (although Petunia had always been the fairer of the two) but this had resulted in Dudley being mollycoddled by the adults while Harry had managed to gain an unprecedented level of independence for an 11 year old meaning that he was allowed to go to the snake house by himself while they took Dudley to see the big cats. As they parted, Petunia gave Harry a quick hug and crushed a five-pound note into Harry's hand, winking over her shoulder as they walked away.

Harry immediately set off in the direction of the snake house, stopping only to buy and ice cream with the money he had been given. In the reptiles enclosure, Harry's focus was immediately drawn to a horrible looking boy who was rapping the glass on one of snakes cages. Eventually he left looking disappointed and Harry walked over to see the poor animal from within, he laughed to see that the snake was resolutely asleep had been ignoring the boy. However as Harry got closer the snake shifted and looked at Harry through one eye. Harry sent the snake a sympathetic look as if to say sorry about him. The snake shrugged as if to reply that he got it all the time.

Harry nodded, before freezing. The snake shrugged? He must have imagined it, trying to remember exactly what happened, wondering how a snake even could shrug. However as he was thinking this the snake then moved again, lifting its body so it was standing facing Harry.

"That must be really annoying" Harry whispered, thinking he was going crazy, and yet the snake then nodded.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?"

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. The idiot from earlier had come charging back, knocking Harry to the ground.

"Look at what this snake is doing," he shouted to no one in particular. Harry suddenly had the urge to see the boy suffer for being such an idiot and no sooner had he felt this that the glass separating people from the snake vanished and the boy fell into the cage. Harry was shell-shocked, even more so to hear the snake whispering, "Thankssss amigo" as it slithered out of the cage and past him, although he was sure that he had imagined this. The reptile house was in uproar with people everywhere screaming and running for their lives, and Harry got up and ran as well, determined to find his relatives. He soon found them admiring a particularly magnificent Lion and told them what had caused the commotion that they could hear from the other side of the zoo. He left out the part about the snake's voice and body movements though making it sound as if the glass broke just as he was looking at the snake. Petunia sent a significant glance at Vernon who shifted uneasily before suggested that they all go have lunch in the zoo restaurant. The rest of the day passed without incident but Harry kept catching his faux-parents sending him looks, which he couldn't determine. Finally, when he was lying in bed that night, thinking over the day's events, Petunia walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Harry, did anything else happen in the snake house, that you didn't tell us," Petunia said sitting on the edge of his bed.  
>"How did you know?" Harry asked, "The glass vanished, it didn't break, it just vanished into thin air."<p>

Petunia sighed.  
>"Harry, I have something to tell you, the truth is, your parents didn't die in a car crash and you were the reason the glass vanished. Please let me explain first" she said as Harry opened his mouth.<p>

"The truth is, in this world there is such a thing as magic, and there are witches and wizards who exist all over the world but hide from us because we have persecuted them. Your parents were wizards and it is clear to me that you are too. I wasn't one hundred percent sure that you would be and reveal the existence of magic to you incase you weren't magical. You see although in nearly every case those with magical parents also possess magic, there are some who do not, while it is more common for those who do not have magical parents to then possess magic, although it is still very rare. Your mother was in that latter category. A seriously bad magical war took place of whom your parents were one of the last casualties and she asked me in her will to take care of you and not to reveal magic to you if you were not old enough to understand it when we took you in. I know it's a ridiculous amount to take in but I promise you that I'm being one hundred percent serious, I'm going to tell Dudley now but ill try and stop him bombarding you with comments about this. I think its best if we talk more in the morning."

Harry just lay there, his mouth slightly open trying to take it all in but he couldn't, he still had a thousand questions to ask. In the end he went to sleep through pure exhaustion but it took a while


	2. Chapter 2

Much to the displeasure of Vernon, over the next few weeks Harry began to ask question after question of Petunia and Vernon as if he expected them to know everything about the wizarding world. In the end Vernon had to send Harry to his room because he wouldn't leave them in peace although Petunia had told Harry everything she knew the day after the zoo trip. Harry took this sign to stop asking questions but unfortunately for the parents, Dudley started asking questions as well.  
>"Will I go to Hogwarts as well then".<br>"Why not".  
>"I might be magical, how do you know for sure".<br>"This is so unfair, why is Harry allowed and I'm not".  
>This tantrum ended in a similar fashion to Harry's excitement and he was soon trundling upstairs for the day after repeatedly being told that it wasn't up to the parents.<p>

"Does that mean I have to go?" Harry asked next morning at breakfast, waiting until after Vernon had started eating the full English fry up Harry had made for the family, fearing being told off for more questions. Luckily they did not seem to mind new questions though and Petunia answered saying, "I'm not actually sure, I know that if you don't learn to control your magic then very nasty accidents can occur but I'm fairly sure your not forced to go and learn at Hogwarts."

"Why, do you not want to?" Vernon asked, looking up almost hopefully.  
>"No, I really want to" Harry added very quickly, "I just don't like the idea of being forced to do anything."<p>

"Uncle," Harry said slowly a few moments later, "Do you not like magic? You seem to squirm every time we talk about it."

Vernon looked up surprised, and there was a slightly guilty look on his face when he replied,  
>"No its not that I don't like magic, honestly, I just feel uncomfortable about it because I don't know anything about it and to be honest I still find it quite hard to believe. It's hard to get my head round it and I get confused thinking about it, I prefer thinking about things I'm sure of," He said truthfully.<p>

"Sorry uncle, I know I've been talking about it a lot, I'm just really excited, I mean this is the year I am going to Hogwarts isn't it, you said eleven right aunt" he said sheepishly with a quick look to his aunt for confirmation, who nodded smiling at his excitement.  
>"I'll try to talk about it less from now on."<br>"Don't be silly Harry; of course you're excited. It's me who should be sorry."

Despite this Harry made an effort to not bring up the subject of magic too much around the family, which they noticed and happily accepted although Dudley would still often bring it up when they were alone. He was jealous still about not being able to go to Hogwarts but after a while had learnt to accept that it wasn't Harry's fault at all.

It wasn't too long after that when Harry received his Hogwarts acceptance letter along with a note at the bottom saying that one of the members of staff would be coming to pick Harry up to help him buy his school things. When he told his aunt and uncle this, they immediately offered to come with him but he said he would rather do it himself, saying that he wanted to do it alone although really he knew that they were still scared of magic and didn't really want to accompany him if a teacher would be there as well. Soon the day came and Harry was waiting in the front hall at 11'oclock as the letter stated the arrival of the member of staff. Then, as it turned five past 11 Harry suddenly got a very cold feeling in his stomach. Had this all been some kind of sick cruel joke by his relatives, there was no such thing as magic. Tears were forming in his eyes and he was turning to go back upstairs when he heard footsteps. Big footsteps. Loud footsteps and they were approaching the door. Harry gulped nervously, the teacher sounded big. Were wizards differently sized to normal people? Suddenly he had a thousand more questions to ask on top of those he hadn't had answered yet and he couldn't wait. He opened the door before the knock came and immediately stumbled back terrified. The man standing before him was huge, way larger than anyone he had ever seen before. He made uncle Vernon look like powerpuff girl.

"Hello there, you must be Harry," the man said gruffly but clearly smiling. "It's been a long time since I last saw you."

"Umm, I don't think we've met Sir," Harry said timidly.  
>"Ahh but you wouldn't remember it. And don't called me Sir, my names Hagrid" he said happily.<p>

"Well you best go say bye to your family, I'll wait for you outside shall I?" he asked. Harry nodded and ran to the kitchen.  
>Harry said that he'd be back that night but it was still somewhat tearfully that Petunia said goodbye to him. She knew she was being silly but she still felt that she was losing him to an extent, just like she had lost lily. Harry on the other hand was positively quivering with excitement. He had got over the shock of Hagrid and had already decided that he was going to be a very friendly teacher.<p>

"So Hagrid," Harry asked as they were walking along the pavement, "Where exactly are we going?"  
>"Diagon Alley, its in London and is one of the largest magical settlements in Britain and almost definitely the largest shopping area. Nearly everyone does his or her Hogwarts shopping there."<br>"How can it be in London? Surely we would of heard of it if it was in London, its not exactly like there is a place to hide it in London is there, especially if its big at all."  
>"Well wizards tend to be pretty good at remaining hidden from muggles. All sorts of ways of hiding a place."<p>

"Muggles?" Harry enquired.

"Non-magic folk, and we have to remain hidden because, well, I'm sure you've heard of witch hunting right? Well muggles tend to be rather scared of magical folk and although it's rather hard for them to harm us, we keep out of their way for their benefit. It's actually against the law for wizards and witches to reveal their existence to muggles or do magic in front of muggles except in certain circumstances. Which unfortunately means you can't practice magic outside of Hogwarts when you're home, and not at all until your seventeen. That's when we become of age."  
>"So how are we getting to Diagon Alley then?" Harry asked.<br>"Full of questions aren't ye" Hagrid said chuckling,

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Cheeky too then, well we'll take a bus we will."  
>"Really?" Harry said astonished that wizards would have to use a bus to get round, "Aren't t there any magical ways to travel?"<br>"Loads," Hagrid said smiling, "and wait till you see this bus, ain't nothing that's not magical about it."  
>"So where do we meet it?"<p>

"Wherever we want".  
>"What do you m… whoa" for Hagrid had just stuck out his right arm and a huge, triple-decker bus had just appeared out of nowhere.<br>A young man stepped out and started announcing himself but Hagrid quickly brushed him aside and dragged Harry on.  
>"Your gonna want to hold on" Hagrid said, grabbing hold of the side of a bed he had sat himself down on.<br>"Why?" Harry asked but it was too late, the bus had set off and Harry had been thrown off his feet towards the back of the bus. He stumbled up and looked out of the window. He was astonished to see they were hurtling along the coast.

"But Hagrid? Privet Drive's nowhere near the coast."  
>"That's magic that is Harry, this bus, the night bus, jumps to wherever someone flags it down and then back to where it was previously. Very fast method of getting round this is."<br>"But how come people never see it?"  
>Hagrid raised his eyebrows.<br>"Aah, magic" Harry said, finally comprehending everything.

"Right, here we are. Padstow Cornwall" the conductor announced to a little old witch. He then turned to Harry and Hagrid.  
>"Wheres you off to then?" he asked.<br>"Diagon Alley, London."  
>"Right you are" and the countryside disappeared and they were hurtling through a very busy main road in the middle of London.<p>

"Phew, that's gonna take some getting used to," Harry said, absolutely loving the experience and only hoping as he thought he soon would that he wasn't about to wake up.

Hagrid paid the conductor and they jumped off the bus. Harry looked round for signs of magic but all he could see was a rather uninviting inn in front of him and houses occupying dingy street.  
>"This was Harry" Hagrid said pulling Harry into the inn. Harry just glimpsed the name before he passed through the doors, THE LEAKY CAULDRON.<br>"Just passing through today Tom" Hagrid said nodding at the innkeeper behind the bar, who nodded back, "Hogwarts business" he added nodding at Harry.

"No, it can't be. Not Harry Potter" Tom said staring at the scar on Harry's forehead and the inn went very quiet as for a reason completely unknown to Harry, every head turned towards him. Then suddenly everyone in the inn moved towards Harry in one movement, who instinctively moved backwards thinking he was being attacked but everyone simply started cheering and shaking his hand.  
>"What an honour, what an honour" he heard many of them say as if he was someone important. Before too long though Hagrid once again grabbed his arm and pulled him through the throng, most of who had already shaken his hand more than once.<p>

"What the hell was that about," Harry asked Hagrid who was thoroughly alarmed by what had just passed.  
>"You don't know? Well I guess that's just expected," he said quietly, "Blimey, didn't think I'd be the one to tell Harry Potter about Harry Potter," he said wiping his forehead with his gigantic sleeve.<br>"However now's not the time, maybe over lunch" he added seeing the look on Harry's face.  
>Harry looked around but realized there was nothing to look at. They were standing in a very poor excuse for an outside part to an inn. All there was were a couple of bins and other than that a brick wall which barely left room for Harry to stand with Hagrid.<br>Hagrid pulled out his umbrella and started tapping bricks on the wall purposefully. He then spread his hands impressively and announced,  
>"Welcome Harry, to Diagon Alley."<p>

Anyway there you go, I'm unsure how this chapter will be received but I'm not worried really.

Anyway for those of you who don't know me, I'm not your average fan, I'm not crazy or anything, its just HP has always held a sort of special place in my heart and so I've read the books more times than I can remember. As such my knowledge is fairly extensive of all things cannon and I'm thinking of making a quiz to set as a story, what do you guys think?


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